Alleg. County Police Target Gay Men Crusing for Sex

In another overt example of homophobic law enforcement, Allegheny County police are “stepping up patrols” around a South Park bathroom suspected of being the location of many a gay tryst.

The Post-Gazette report hits the classic homophobic note — the site's proximity to a children's playground. Because you cannot report on gay sex without making at least one subtle allusion to children.

Now I understand that having sex in public places is illegal. But when is the last time you read a story about cracking down on heterosexual public sex? I guarantee you that there are more incidencts of breeders having public sexual relations than homos. And I guarantee you that most gay men are not having sex in public restrooms. But those who do are not guilty of a greater crime than the majority of high school students parked at South Park.

When I was in high school, we rode the activity bus and had to walk through the parking lot of Sam's Club to get home. Every day for the entire track season in my junior year (1987), a car was parked in that lot containing an adult man and woman having sex. We walked right past it every day and they never batted an eye. They were having sex within eyeshot of the middle school and a half a block from a preschool. Where was the umbrage? Who protected me?

Let's be honest — this is not a crackdown on public lewdness. This is a crackdown on the crime of being gay.